MUSCATINE, Iowa — Over 100 people visited Island Speedway Off Road Racetrack Saturday for the second annual Iowa Carpet Off-Road Championships.
The radio-controlled competition was held on a carpet track with racers vying for the most laps within six minutes for the qualifying rounds. The finals, which will be held Sunday, will pit cars against each other by finishing place.
The racers spend hours perfecting their car for their own driving style. Jamie Thompson, an Off-Road Board Member, said the cars are configurable just like a normal-sized gas-powered car.
"You know you see on TV about NASCAR. They've got all these adjustments. Our cars do as much as NASCAR does, if not more," Thompson said. "It's for anybody- a family [to have fun with together]."
And for Wisconsin residents, 62-year-old Mark King and his son, 32-year-old Aaron King, it's a sport they bonded over decades ago.
"My wife said that I had to do something with [Aaron] because he was getting old enough that he was going to be moving out and doing stuff on his own," Mark said. "And before we [knew it], we're racing almost every night of the week."
But they said it was difficult to find a high-quality racetrack near them.
"We like run on a carpet. And our track that we normally run in Madison, Wisconsin [didn't] have a track," Mark added.
So they came to Iowa to get some practice and to compete for the bragging rights. But most importantly, they want to remember why they started with the sport in the first place.
"I want to be competitive, but I don't want to lose the point of it's something to do for fun," Aaron said.
To find out more about Island Speedway, you can tap/click here.
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